Top Items:
Matthew J. Franck / Bench Memos on National …:
How Alito Helped Bush 20 Years Ago — Today's Washington Post has one more item of interest, an article about Samuel Alito's role in sketching, in 1986, the Reagan administration's strategy of issuing presidential "interpretive signing statements" declaring the executive branch's understanding …
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Franklin Foer / The New Republic:
OY, THE MSB: — Last month, I wrote a column against the Mainstream Blogosphere. I argued that the MSB has made a grave mistake in relentlessly attacking the credibility of the New York Times and Washington Post. For decades, conservatives have been trying to shred these institutions.
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April Castro / Associated Press:
Comptroller in Texas Walks Away From GOP — AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned her back on the Republican Party and announced Monday she will run for governor as an independent. — The move allows Strayhorn to escape a potentially ugly primary battle against Gov. Rick Perry.
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R.G. Ratcliffe / Houston Chronicle:
Strayhorn enters governor's race as independent — AUSTIN — Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn ended speculation today by announcing she will run for governor against Gov. Rick Perry as an independent. — "It's time to shake Austin up," Strayhorn, who is now serving as a Republican officeholder …
Bloomberg:
Abramoff May Plead Guilty This Week, Snaring Lawmakers in Probe — Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) — Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is under criminal investigation, may agree this week to cooperate with federal officials in a move that former prosecutors say would put U.S. lawmakers in legal jeopardy.
Discussion:
TalkLeft
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Michael Hedges / Houston Chronicle:
Abramoff plea bargain to bring corruption probe to Congress — WASHINGTON - A plea agreement between prominent lobbyist Jack Abramoff and federal prosecutors is expected this week, bringing a wide-ranging corruption probe to the doors of Congress, according to sources close to the investigation.
Discussion:
Fired Up! America
Gordon Trowbridge / militarycity.com:
Troops sound off — Military Times Poll finds high morale, but less support for Bush, war effort — Support for President Bush and for the war in Iraq has slipped significantly in the last year among members of the military's professional core, according to the 2005 Military Times Poll.
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BBC:
Russia vows to end gas shortage — Russia says it will pump more gas to Europe after various countries said their supplies had fallen by up to 40% after Moscow cut Ukraine's provision. — France, Italy, Germany and Poland were among those reporting falling volumes.
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Atrios / Eschaton:
2005 was the year that the president of the United States declared proudly that he had broken the law repeatedly and with full intention, that he had the power to do so whenever he wanted to, and that he would continue to do so whenever he determined it to be desirable.
Discussion:
Wampum, Decision '08, The Liberal Avenger, AMERICAN FUTURE, THE NEWS BLOG and CathiefromCanada
Paul E. Schroeder / Washington Post:
A Life, Wasted — Let's Stop This War Before More Heroes Are Killed — Early on Aug. 3, 2005, we heard that 14 Marines had been killed in Haditha, Iraq. Our son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was stationed there. At 10:45 a.m. two Marines showed up at our door.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Contextualizing — Jane discusses this article in today's NY Times about how blogging is affecting journalism and she makes this important point: … There was a guy who did this kind of journalism long before technology made it possible for many of us to carry on the tradition.
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Thomas Sowell / Townhall.com:
Serious or suicidal? — When you are boating on the Niagara River, there are signs marking the point at which you must go ashore or else you will be sucked over the falls. With Iran moving toward the development of nuclear weapons, we are getting dangerously close to that fatal point of no return on the world stage.
Peter Lattman / Law Blog:
Article III Groupie Expected to Become Wonkette — Here's the latest buzz: Queen of the blogosphere Ana Marie Cox is said to be handing over the reins at her spicy political blog Wonkette. David Lat, the federal prosecutor who revealed himself to the New Yorker magazine in November …
Steve Benen / The Washington Monthly:
10 WORDS....I'm glad to see the fine folks at National Journal's Hotline are back after a holiday break with a pretty good round-up of political/campaign news from the last two weeks. But like Ezra, I thought one of the items stood out. … Ezra suggests it's crazy to think …
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Gary Farber / Amygdala:
BLUE IN THE FACE. I tend to write lots of my stuff in comments on other blogs (particularly here), both because I feel more relaxed doing so, and because, frankly, that's often the only way to get more then ten people to see it, and lastly, because I enjoy conversing, and there's not so much of that around here.
Gail Russell Chaddock / Christian Science Monitor:
Coming to the Hill: lots of hearing-room drama — Probes of war policies will begin amid ethical scrutiny of members. — WASHINGTON - It's going to be a banner year for C-SPAN. That's because Congress is gearing up for the most dramatic slate of hearings since the Clinton impeachment fracas.
Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:
Our Latin Conundrum — Here's a sad but safe new year's prediction: U.S. relations with Latin America, which plunged to their lowest point in decades in 2005, will get still worse in 2006. — The year ended with a string of reverses. In a regional summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina …
